Cooper Tires are killers.

Oh how I remember the accident, June 29, 2005.  We were traveling north on I-84 heading to Idaho for a long weekend.  We had river rafting planned, fishing, hiking and being with the family in the Boise valley.   Just dad and the kids.  Mom was going to stay and get caught up on some litigation cases she was working.  

The tire tread came off and then the tire blew.  This was a COOPER tire with 80% plus tread still on the tire.  Their tire expert said it failed due to low tread.  LIE LIE LIE.     That is BLOOD on the exterior of the vehicle from my son's head injury.

Don't trust COOPER tires.

Ford Excursion after rolling at 65 MPH.  Driven by my 16 year old son.   I was in the back seat due to the fact that we picked up a hitch hiker.  Poor fella,  he boogied outta there before the UHP patrolman could arrive.  They found him a ways down the interstate.   The troopers last name was Denny.   He asked where we were headed and I told him Boise area.  He said he has a brother around there.  I then asked if it would be Dan Denny.  It was, wow, what a small world.  I went to high school with Dan's sons Todd Martell and Mike Martell.

I would buy a FORD again.  That vehicle did pretty well,  it was the tires that sucked.   That morning I went to have the tires rotated but the wait was 2-3 hours.   Not having the time I went and checked the air pressure and then packed for the trip.  Would things have been different if the FAULTY COOPER TIRE was on the front?  I often wonder. 

Yes, CHAPARRAL are made by COOPER tires. 

This accident put three of my children in the hospital.  I should have gone but I needed to stay and do a thorough investigation into the accident.  The Trooper was leaning towards issuing a citation to my son who only had his license for about one month.  My son Tennison was able to keep control of the vehicle long enough to reduce the speed significantly before the EXCURSION rolled.    It was thump, thump, thump, and I said, "flat tire, slow down,"  The Excursion then began to fish tail.  I remember Tennison correcting the fish tail three times and on the fourth it went into a roll.  I was reaching back and tightening the seat belts for Tyla and McKay.  I still had my firm grip on Tyla when the vehicle came to a stop.  My left shoulder was dislocated and my back was dislocated.  I got my shoulder back in and immediately went into COP mode.   McKay was covered in blood from the head injury, Tyla was bleeding all over her arms, waist, and legs.  Beau had scrapes all over and I honestly don't remember a thing about BRYSON.   Then to top it all off we had our Australian Shepherd with us.  I remember hearing one of the first responders saying,  "where in the hell did the dog come from".   We were only about a half mile out of Snowville, Ut. 

Faulty COOPER Tire!

Faulty COOPER tire.  Now try making a call to your wife who is at work back in SLC, UT.   I had three children in an ambulance heading to Brigham City, UT.  Honey can you get to the Brigham City hospital.  We have been involved in roll over, the tire tread seperated.   It was not anyone's fault, just a BAD tire.  I was in excruciating pain due to my shoulder and back being wrenched in the accident.  

This is the same tire that killed 9 Utah State students a few months later.  On 9-27-05 eight students were killed due to a faulty COOPER tire.  One student died a few days later. 

Not enough tread?  One can clearly see that there is a lot of tread.  I measured 80% still there.  The tires only had 18,000 miles on them. 

COOPER tires also listed driver error as a contributing circumstance to the accident.    What exactly is one to do when a tread totally seperates from the tire at 75MPH?

Faulty COOPER tire.  This is the tread that seperated prior to the rollover.  The tread was located in lane #1 on the interstate 200 yards prior to the accident.

faulty COOPER tire.

Faulty COOPER tire.   I remember when we took our Ford Explorer into Firestone Tires to get new tires due to the recall.  I saw all those tires and the manager cut slits into the sidewalls.  I told the manager it would be great ot get some of the tires and he looked at me and said,  "not if you love your family, these things are killers."  Now I totally understand what he meant.

My wife Julie

Julie was employee of the year at her corporation.  What did we do with prize?  Ya, you guessed it, Disney World in Orlando.  It was a pretty fun trip, but the whole time we were thinking about how our kids would have had a blast.  It started to rain while at the park so there were no lines and we went from ride to ride.  being from Utah it wasn't cold for us.

Daytona Beach, Fl    I took the photo.  I have gotten better at pictures through the years.  We went for a short jog on the beach after taking the drive from Orlando to Daytona.

Julie picking up shells on the beach.  We rented a compact car in Orlando and drove to Daytona.  So there we were, right in the middle of biker week in our compact rental.   Talk about little man syndrome, I think I had it about then. 

This in on the top of Mt. Baldy.  We took a family hike to the summit.  There are over one dozen lakes visible from the top.  It is really cool looking.

I have been married for 23 great years to the same wonderful person.  Next week will actually be our 23rd anniversary.   Last week Julie had her 41st birthday and she is still very beautiful.   She is one of those women who just looks great no matter what.  I sent her a dozen red roses and she loved 'em.  Julie was one of the 'pleaser' types.   She wants everyone around her to be happy and she is willing to do whatever it takes to realize her wish.   The last few years she has begun to push back when it comes to the kids pulling more weight around the house and I like it.    I think the kids get away with way too much and I even do too much of their work.

Well Brian Mitchell is found guilty today and it sounds like he will get what he deserves.  I certainly hope that the Mr. Ed Smart will go back to his little corner and be quiet.  I think he has gotten way more than his 15 minutes on this one, not to downplay what was done to his sweet little daughter.     I remember seeing the three all dressed in white robes walking southbound on S. State Street in Provo.  I remember driving by them while heading to juvenile court and thinking what in the heck is the world coming to?   I had the feeling that it needed to be investigated, what kind of freaks are walking through "my" city, but I wouldn't want to be late for court.  So I go on into court and end up waiting for almost an hour before my case was called.   I often wonder if any pain would have been spared had I acted.  I do know that the FEDS would not have been involved since she would not have crossed state lines. 

McKay is a great athlete.  In fact the whole team plays multiple sports.  With football, baseball and soccer taking up much of their time I am amazed that they are eight and 0.  McKay did not play much basketball in grade school, he focused on soccer and when he saw his older brothers excelling at basketball he decided to take it up had has done well ever since. McKay playing D against East High, 9th grade basketball.  He is on a good team.   McKay is getting better and it is fun to watch him play.

   East has a great facility,  I guess the Utah Jazz used to practice there before their new facility was built.

Coach Don Johnson, Provo High School, McKay plays with Wesley Bosco who is a very good Baller..    I think he had close to thirty points in this game,  why not, when you are hot, you're hot.   The varsity team is struggling right now, that is putting it mildly.  It seems if  you play kids because of their name it can help but it can also hurt.    The Provo High Basketball team has names like Collinsworth, Durrant, Hunter, Bosco, Ventura, Johnson, Finch, And Wesley that have come through the program.  I won't say which ones I think have helped or hurt the program, I am not out to criticize, but I think it would be fun to have the opportunity to establish a consistently winning program.

McKay playing basketball at East High in SLC.   I was sitting with grandpa Denis Alan Jensen.  The ref came up to us during halftime and asked if he knew us.  Denis said I don't think so.  I'm from Carbon county,  the ref said I graduated from East here in the sixties but I have some family down in Castledale, the Stilsons.   They proceeded to talk on how they knew some common family.   I thought it was pretty cool.

The Hunter family in front of the Provo, LDS temple.  The day we were to drop of Beau at the MTC.   What a good looking family.  I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a great bunch of people around me.   Speaking of great people around me.  As we pulled into the parking lot to abandon Beau, I see Brother Ron Gardner, Trevan's dad, directing traffic.  He sees me and we exchange pleasantries and ask who I am dropping off?   I tell him it is Beau and he says well Sharene is inside at the admissions desk and she will take good care of him.   I was fighting real hard by now to keep the tears back and I think I did a pretty good job, inside I was a complete mess though.   I know we weren't abandoning Beau but instead turning him over to the Lord and it sure helped to have someone that both Julie and I knew to assist in the transition.

Tennison Hunter and Beau Hunter in front of the Provo, LDS temple.  This was taken Aug, 18, 2010.  Beau is now serving in Boston, MA mission and his older, but shorter brother Tennison  got back from the Mexico City North mission June 28, 2010.  Pretty cool having kids willing to give of their time to go a serve others.   Beau is a rather tall chap at 6'6".  He played basketball at Hartnell JC in Salinas, Ca.   Tennison is 5'8" and he was a great soccer player at Timpview Highschool and Provo prior to transferring to THS.

This has got to be one of the prettiest canyons in the world.  Provo Canyon, in front of Bridal Veil Falls.  I wonder how many "bridal veil falls" there are in the US alone?  Pretty area for a pretty cool family.  We wanted to get some photos of the family before we were parted again with Beau's mission to Boston.   I was able to get quite familiar with the backdrop of this photo while seaching for Camille Cleverly.

I have actually stood on this peak.  It was a hard hike and I did rope in because it would have been a long fall.  This is lightning peak at the back of Rock Canyon. 

This is the day we dropped off Beau Hunter at the MTC in Provo.  Not a far drive being that we live in Provo.  Aug 16, 2010.    A picture of the family in front of the Provo, LDS temple.   Tennison and Beau,  Tenny got back from serving in Mexico City N. mission in June, 2010.    Another family picture up Provo Canyon.  It is a beautiful place, one of the prettiest canyons I have yet to see.    The mountain photo is a shot of Provo Peak.  Just up Rock canyon  directly behind The Provo LDS temple.  I can't get over how beautiful it is up in the canyon only a few miles out of the city.   The last shot is a blue bird I saw while dropping off the electric payment.

Mtn. Biking above Midway, Ut.   This is a technically easy ride but hard for the cardio.   Once my lungs got warmed up it became much easier.   This was my wife's first ride going up hill and offroad.   She did pretty well,  she didn't think she could do it at first, but with some encouragement she did just fine.

OK, Methamphetamine,  the latest scourge to hit our great state.   This was taken from a search warrant here in Provo, Ut.  The illegal was dealing out of his back door which was ajacent to an elementary school playground.  It gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction when drugs are taken off the street and money is seized.   It is like kicking them you know where!   I wonder what society would be like if there were no crime?   Well, major crime anyway.    I was involved with the confiscation of over ten pounds of Meth, this stuff sells for $17,000  a pound.  That was a great bust- plus it gave me the opportunity to use my Spanish, if ya know what I mean.

This is a picture of Grandpa.  It is fun to visit him on the farm.  I am still trying to decide where I would like to end up when all the working and raising kids is done.   This is a perfect little town in SW Idaho for a retired couple.  Dad is 72 years young and still going strong.   He stays plenty busy and often says he wonders how he worked full time and raised eight kids and kept the place up. 

Basketball

what is going on with basketball?  I believe the team has the talent,  is it that Coach Kelly is gone?

Photos stopped untill Bigdog catches a pass.

It has been said that QB's throw to their friends.     What is going on here?

JV and Varsity vs West Jordan, Sept. 3rd